Wreck On The AirShip
by Gagamoo
Summary: The loss of something dear is always hard to overcome. Hard, but it's possible to overcome such tragedies. But how do you overcome the shock of losing everything? Especially since you've always had to be strong on your own. AuRikku
1. Chapter 1

Wreck Onboard the Airship

By PetiteCookie

A/N: We need to get our Aurikku back boys and girls.

Summary: The loss of something dear is always hard to overcome. Hard, but it is possible to overcome such tragedies. But how do you overcome the shock of losing your home, and your people, at the same time? Especially since you've always had to be strong on your own.

* * *

The Airship had many, many different storage rooms, for Machina parts, Airship fuel, food and ammunition. The latter generally being deserted, and packed the fullest, with towering castles of boxes reaching up to the ceiling, and small dens of opened, half filled boxes, waiting to be emptied. The fluorescent lights did nothing except cast dark shadows, almost making the room darker than before.

It was the perfect hiding place.

And so here she cried.

Rikku curled herself up into a ball in a small cave of crates and wept for her, and her people's, losses. The pool of sadness in her heart, made her mourn the demolition of HOME, caused by the destructive corruptness of the Guado. And the death of Keyakku, which hit her right where it hurt.

That was her sadness.

Her anger then surfaced when she thought of her loyal friends. Their heroic acts to save her people, made no difference, they still died in vain, her friends efforts amounted to nothing, when they should've made all the difference. Fate should've allowed them to save HOME, not make it another wreck, buried in the sandstorms.

A storm of emotions built in her heart yet anger conquered the sorrow, and the hurricane formed was made of pure anger.

How dare the Guado attack?  
How dare they murder innocent people?  
How dare fate make it so that the efforts of her people we in vain?

She lashed out impulsively. Bare skin colliding with the metal edges of the crates. She whipped her hand back in, wincing at the pain, but instead of becoming squeamish because of the dripping crimson river cascading from the cut, she curled her fingers into a fist and lashed out again. It didn't do much for the pain of her heart, and certainly didn't hurt the pain in the hands, but it did help with the anger.

But as her punches became wilder, crates around her head began to fall around her, and dodging them, she continued to fight enemies of boxes, as the falling weight pushed her down, and knocked her back, she persevered, getting up repeatedly, until her fist met something not quite as hard. A firm being, pulling her into a protective but forceful embrace, a calming aura putting out her anger, reducing her once more, to a sobbing wreck.

Although the stranger made no sound, from their rigid structure, masculine scent, and the fact they were almost twice the size of her, Rikku could tell it was a mystery man, not a mystery woman. Oddly, this comforted her more; she knew all the men on the ship, and all of them (with maybe the exception of Brother) made her feel safer than the deepest rooms of HOME. Or used to. HOME wouldn't be making anyone feel safe any time soon.

Feeling her knees buckle without permission, Rikku sank to the ground, her mystery man falling with her, cushioning her fall. Her forehead rubbed against a cheek with vaugley familiar stubble, but only just familiar enough to distinguish this man from her Father, making her feel more at ease, the last thing she needed was her Father discovering her like this. Besides, she could almost feel, or at least imagine, the beginnings of silent chemistry between them.

She lifted her head, to look at him, but found her hair was caught in a way that she couldn't. Lifting her hand, she gathered it was trapped in some sort of mechanism, a hinge. But before she could untangle it herself, a large, gloved hand got there before her, releasing the hair, then allowing his hand to drop, and rest on her cheek.

She longed so much to say something, anything, to entice a response from this man, to break the dense silence enveloping them, but there was nothing to say. So she just sat there, curled up in the arms of a man who'd said nothing but held her. He shifed slightly, the first movement he'd made since her fall, so his back was against the metal wall, making sure Rikku's head was supported by the hand on her cheek.

The pair stayed like that for what seemed like hours, until, embarassingly enough, pangs of hunger pains and loudly stomach growls disturbed Rikku from her rest. She looked up for the first time since the hair incident abd from her now-adjusted eyes, even in the dark, she could make out a very familiar collar and sunglasses and her jaw dropped in disbelief.

"Auron?" The question was barley a whisper, her hoarse voice still recovering from her tears. Her mystery man - Auron, looked straight at her, his eyes a silent answer to her qustion, but it was not enough for Rikku, she wanted an audible answer, one she could understand, one not-so cryptic. "Why are you here?"

Auron sighed, realizing he would have to speak, and leaned his head back against the crate, thinking about his answer, before he said something he may well regret. "Your Father was worried, and requested I find you"

Heart sinking, she nodded in response. Was it too much to hope that he was there out of care and thought? That he wasn't here because of Father, but on his own accord, because he noticed her absence and became worried about her safety? They sat there, again in silence, Rikku still shaking and clinging onto the coat, despite hunger, and Auron still cradling her soft cheek.

She marveled at this show of comfort. Never had she, or anyone, she supposed, seen anything like this, from the pepper-haired man. He was always so cold and uncaring, pushing the Pilgrimage along, despite protests. When they camped, he always took night shift, and when morning came and they awoke, he would still be awake, in the same spot, alert as ever. Not even when Yuna had fallen ill, had he shown affection.

It was almost... Nice. How she envisioned it would feel to be in the arms of a true lover, not like the hugs she'd get from Gippal, but deeper. As she sat there, she tried to banish all thoughts of hunger. While she knew it could never last forever, she could at least try, try to prolong this feeling of protection, of safety, and if she imagined hard enough, love. But as quickly as that thought had come about, just as quickly was it banished.

It _was_ Auron, after all.

Meanwhile, as Rikku was busy engrossed in her train of thoughts, Auron was dealing with a set of his own.

Holding this young, -slightly psychotic- yet mature girl, no woman, was entirely different to the many times he had held Tidus, and the times he'd held Yuna as a little girl, both times, he'd felt like a proper Father-figure. This wasn't parental-driven, this wasn't because he'd been told to like he'd said. Yet, he hadn't intended to come here, to the storage room. Something had drawn him there, drawn him to the angry Al-Bhed.

To be sitting here holding her for this length of time wasn't in his place either, in fact, holding her at all wasn't, but when he reached out to her, instinct took over, and rational mind went on auto-pilot.

Reality came a-knocking soon after, bringing him back to harsh reality, and all it's glory. Whatever feeling this was, it needed to stop. Quickly. Not only was he only supposed to be here for the Pilgrimage, (Which should _always_ come first) he was 35 and _dead_. She was 17 and _alive_. No matter what happened in their mixed up lives, the could never even get as close as friends.

Auron wanted to leave Spira with no more strings holding him back, he wanted to leave and not hurt anyone. To reach his eternal rest on the Farplane without wondering if someone was doing alright or not. And do do that, all social relationships must be strictly professional, devoid of any perverted thoughts Jecht would laugh at. Those thoughts especially, must be buried, buried in a hole deeper than a Shoopuff's grave.

He tried to move, forgetting about Rikku, and the fact that her weight would hold him back, and she herself tried to use that to her advantage, keeping her weight down, as she mumbled "Stay" against his red coat. In an alternate universe, he would've melted instantly.

But this isn't an alternate universe, and this was Auron.

So he shifted the weight of the young girl off him, stood up, straightend his coat, and smartly walked off without a word.

* * *

A/N: First chapter, new story, I'm on holiday, and determined to finish this one!

Leave a review? I haven't written AuRikku (or written) in a long time, so my style will have changed... Hopefully for the better.


	2. Chapter 2

Wreck Onboard the Airship

By PetiteCookie

A/N: Again. We need to get our Aurikku back boys and girls.

Summary: The loss of something dear is always hard to overcome. Hard, but it is possible to overcome such tragedies. But how do you overcome the shock of losing your home, and your people, at the same time? Especially since you've always had to be strong on your own.

-x-

The next morning, Auron walked round the ships domitories, knocking on the Summoner's party doors. They were approaching Bevelle and needed to plan their move. Reaching Rikku's door (Distinguished by the pink sign on the door. He hadn't placed her as a girly-girl, but you learn something new everyday) he paused, wondering whether or not she had returned to her room after he'd left her, especially since she hadn't been at dinner. He coudn't help but feel slightly guilty about it, she obviously needed comfort, but for him to stay there would have been a danger to them both.

Deciding he'd wait to see if she appeared at breakfast, he knocked, and moved on. After all, if food was involved after what looked like no dinner, Rikku would be down there. Knocking on Tidus' door, he heard not only the inturrupted snore of the blonde, but also the creak of a door, looking over his shoulder, his good eye scanned the corridor, landing on Rikku's chamber door, slowly opening to reveal the Al-Bhed. She looked like death on legs, in just a short time, her eyes did not have that cheeky gleam, but instead, were glazed over, obviously not concentrating on what was going on. Her shinning lass of blonde hair was lying flat on her shoulders, instead of in her usul pony and braids, beads and feathers tangled up in the mess. Back hunched, she started towards the dining area, dragging her feet as she went.

Auron was so stunned at this scene, a unwanted, unfamiliar pang in his dead heart made him stop where he was, staring after her. And just as quickly as it had happened, it was gone. Had he really just felt that? It couldn't mean anything, he felt a pang when Yuna first summoned for him. _'No'_ said the voice in his head. _'That was pride, and you know it'_

Dismissing the voice and pushing it to the back of his mind, he looked back at the door to find it open, Tidus staring at his still outstretched hand.

"You alright old man?"

Lowering his hand and straightening himself out, he grunted, and stalked off to knock on the rest of the doors.

Tidus grinned. Although he didn't say anything, he'd seen Auron stare after Rikku. Including the look in is eye.

It was the same look that Rikku had in hers.

* * *

Over the next few days, Tidus had no opportunities to talk to Auron or Rikku, in between saving Yuna, and making themselves Spira's Number 1 Enemies, the everyone was too busy keeping guard, resting or fighting to talk.

Of course, they could've talked in Macalania, but he'd been waiting for a one-on-one with Yuna since they met. And he wasn't going to miss a single opportunity, especially since he didn't know when the next one was going to come up.

Rikku seemed to improve, slightly. She acted her normal self, after 'The' breakfast, she seemed to have forgotten all about HOME, (due to some harsh comments from Cid) and that was something that worried everyone. Though Auron was the only one to see her at her worst, the rest seemed to have worked out during her dissaperence what was going on. It didn't seem right that she would recover from something as tragic as HOME's demolition as quickly as she seemed to. Yuna noticed quietly, that while alone, she let everything go, writing sad messages into the dust about her feet during watch.

The Calm Lands, contradictory to it's name, was a turbulent time for the party. Rikku seemed determined to participate in every battle, the more she participated in, the better it seemed. Unfortunatley for her, both Auron and Lulu worried about the strain it would have on her if she continued like this, and after a while forbid her from participating in a certain amount of battles evey so often, making her go and feed the Chocobos they were using to travel, or rest for a while. Rikku found this infuriating. She didn't see it as them trying to help, she saw it as the two older Guardians looking down on her because of her age, thinking she was weaker than the rest. To think she ever wished for Auron to return her feelings...

She stopped feeding Perry the Chocobo abrubtly.

'To think that I ever wished for Auron to return my feelings?' She wondered, a bit taken aback by her thoughts.

_'Yes'_ said her subconcious. _'Those feelings you refused to think about, that were pushed to the side everytime they surfaced, the feelings that you so badly once felt for Gippal.'_

Oh. _Those_ feelings.

'Shit.'

* * *

After four days travelling through the Calm Lands, they reached one of Rin's travel agencies at last. While the group were used their own rooms in agencies by now, (tents were always fought over when they camped) this time, there were only four rooms avaliable ("It's because officials are returning for a meting with the Ronso Maester on Gagazet" informed Lulu.) It was immediatley decided that Kimahri woul have a room to himself, as it would be almost impossible for anyone else to share with him as he took up somuch space. Tidus, who had been secretly planning for ages immediatley shouted after the first decision that they should draw straws for the three remaining rooms.

"Its only fair!" He reasoned.

Well, as you may have guessed, it wasn't fair, all the straws were fixed, so Tidus knew exactly who was sharing with who.

Lulu and Wakka.

Tidus and Yuna (Avoiding the stern look on Auron's face)

Leaving Rikku and Auron. Together. In the same room. For an entire night.

Tidus reasoned that there would be one of three different outcomes.

Outcome number one was that absolutley nothing happened, they would both go to bed, wake up and they would head out as usual. Outcome number two was the one he didn't want to happen. Previous times on the Pilgrimage, Rikku had Auron right on the edge of exploding with anger, and after recent events, no one was relaxed. Outcome number three was the hoped outcome. Rikku and Auron would talk. Alot. And he wasn't very sure of what would actually happen, but he wanted it to be something good. Of course, there may be a few hitches, even if they became friends, after all, there is the age difference. But Tidus decided this bridge could be overcome later.

As the two final straws were left Rikku's jaw wasn't the only one to drop, though Lulu and Auron had the composure to raise an eyebrow instead. Wakka punched the blond on the arm and muttered "You serious? You tink we're gonna sit back and let you share a room wid da Lady Yuna?" Tidus grinned back, and gave him the signature 'no worries' shrug. Wakka leaned over to the blonde and said in a barely audible whisper "but thanks for getting me and Lu together, ya?"

The party divided up into their pairs, and Tidus realised that not only would he and Yuna, (and hopefully Rikku and Auron) benefit, this could give Wakka the opportunity to tell Lulu what he'd wanted to for months now. Smiling as he took the keys from the Al-Bhed over the counter, he followed his beloved Summoner to their room.

Grabbing the keys from the same Al-Bhed and waving to her, she turned to look at Auron, refusing to met his eye.

"So, I guess we're sharing then?" she mumbled to her shoes, which seemed to twitch in response. Auron, who had mabye mistaken the fact that the question was directed at shoes and not him, grunted in response and in one swift move, took the keys from her hand and stalked off to their room, cursing Tidus as he went, he'd seen the rigged straws, and as much as he'd like to spend time with the blonde (that wasn't Tidus) he felt that he couldn't, but convinced himself that it was fine, since the matter was out of his hands. He'd just simply have to ignore her for the night. If he could stand her whining that is.

Reaching their designated room, he pushed the key in the lock and went in. Rikku scuttling behind. She threw her bags onto the bed by the window ("I bagsie this bed and the shower first!" she cried to Auron's confusion as he leant his Masamune against the wall) and ran into the bathroom, a loud locking noise could be heard alongside the hiss of the shower.

As soon as she was certain that she couldn't be heard, she let out a squeal. As much as she was a little intimidated about sharing a room with the Legendary Guardian, I mean what if he had nightly Legendary rituals that she knew nothing about? What if he expected her to be a perfect lady when it came to her nightly routine? How was she ever going to explain her regular sleep walking incidents? (I suppose she'd just have to hope for the best) In the presence of the man she'd admitted to liking she felt compelled to be perfect. But after those words her heart sank. He wouldn't look twice at her, not even if she bounced around the room stark naked. Sighing to herself, she set her nightly goal to make herself feel better about it.

Singing in the shower. After all, even if he didn't look twice at her, he won't listen to her singing.  
Auron sighed and removed his glasses and coat, and mentally prepared himself for a long night. But on hearing the wail of Rikku's shower singing, her corrected that statement.  
It was going to be a very long night.

-x-

A/N: Just as a side note - In a non-bitchy way. I can tell if you've favourited/alerted any of my stories. With no names mentioned. So I'll know those who I expect maybe a review from. I've had this with every story I've written, and it's not nice for any writer, as I'm sure if you write yourself you'll know how this feels, so if you favourite/alert my story, at least be courteous and review. I'd do the same if it was your story.

Thanks,

PetiteCookie~


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